Effect of nitrogen and silicon fertilization on growth and productivity of rice under red and laterite soil

Laterite soils are low in bioavailability of silicon and nitrogen as it is acidic, low in organic matter, and has undergone intensive weathering, leading to leaching of these nutrients. Rice crops grown in laterite soil show poor growth, yield, and resilience as this soil often limits the availability and uptake of essential nutrients, making nutrient optimization critical. Integrating nitrogen and silicon may improve nutrient uptake, stress tolerance, and overall productivity in rice cultivation in this soil. With this hypothesis, a field experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Farm of Institute of Agriculture (Palli Siksha Bhavana), Visva Bharati, Sriniketan to study the effect of nitrogen and silicon fertilization on rice growth, yield and economics. The experiments were conducted in a split plot design with three replications. Main-plot treatment consisted of three levels of nitrogen [N1: Control 0 kg/ha, N2: N @ 80 kg/ha (1/4th at basal, ½ at active tillering, 1/4th at panicle initiation) and N3: N @ 20 Kg/ha in basal + LCC-4 @ 20 kg N/ha] and sub-plots treatments were five levels of silicon (S1: Control @ 0 kg/ha, S2: SiO ₂ @ 100 kg/ha, S3: SiO ₂ @ 200 kg/ha, S4: SiO ₂ @ 300 kg/ha and S5: SiO ₂ @ 400 kg/ha). The result showed that N3 gave best growth characteristics, yield attributes, yield and return per rupee invested among three nitrogen management treatments in both the years of study. Silicon fertilization @ 400 kg/ha gave highest growth, yield attributes and yield among five levels of fertilization. But, silicon dose 200 kg/ha was most economically feasible which can be recommended to be applied to rice of the laterite region. Interaction effect of nitrogen and silicon for all parameters were non-significant except for silicon percent in straw.